A review by thereadingchallengechallenge
Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales by Poppy Nwosu

dark mysterious tense
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

So, this book and I fundamentally disagree about what makes a story "Horror". To me, a horror story should be scary or menacing or spooky. A lot of these stories - aren't. For sure they're all speculative fiction but a lot of them are dystopia, or paranormal, or very vaguely magical. A lot of them are not Horror. So I got pretty frustrated, expecting scares and only getting weird magic or whatever. But there are enough gems here to make me recommend it - just maybe not specifically for Halloween.

  • The Party by Wai Chim - 2/5 - An interesting idea but it was barely spooky, let alone scary or haunting.
  • Seek and Destroy by Jared Thomas - 5/5 - Terrifying, with some cool Indigenous lore.
  • It’s Quiet Now by Emma Preston - 1/5 - The comic’s style was pretty but it was just a monster going from place to place. Gimme some speech or narration or something to make me care about this monster.
  • Heart-Shaped Stone by Vikki Wakefield - 3/5 - A wonderful creeping dread in this one but it could’ve done without the lateral ableism.
  • Stop Revive Survive by Sarah Epstein - 4/5 - Welp, I’ll never get out at a roadside stop at night again.
  • Don’t Look! by Lisa Fuller - 3/5 - Excellently spooky but it was missing something to really grab me.
  • Nature Boy by Poppy Nwosu - 3/5 - Atmospheric and haunting but I wouldn’t call it horror.
  • Slaughterhouse Boys by Emma Osborne - 3/5 - A harsh, compelling piece but I’m really wondering how the editors decided to define horror because this stuff mostly isn’t.
  • Euryhaline by Margot McGovern - 5/5 - Margot McGovern’s writing always satisfies me - especially when she quotes my favourite line from my favourite horror novel.
  • Hunger by Marianna Shek - 5/5 - Wonderfully menacing, with an excellent instance of ancestral haunting. 
  • Do I See it Now? by Michelle O'Connell - 3/5 - An interesting explanation of how it can feel to be neurodivergent on a bad day. 
  • Angel Eyes by Alison Evans - 5/5 - Spooky, deliciously queer, with a metaphor that makes its point without bashing you over the head with it. 
  • Best Years of Your Life by Felix Wilkins - DNF
  • Rappaccini’s Son by Holden Sheppard - 3/5 - An interesting idea with some great queerness.